Forever changed
by Cheeky-eyes
Summary: She was scared. It had happened so quickly. She hadn’t even seen the snake, and now Mahaado was hurt. AE fic, set during the flashback from episode 203. Appenticeshipping


She ran past him in a flurry of motion

_Hello all, it is I, with yet another one shot. This time around it is __APPRENTICESHIPPING! By the way, this is set in their childhood, specifically the flashback from episode 203. I don't really have much more to say, so without further ado I give you_

Forever changed

**xxx**

She ran past him in a flurry of motion.

Tag.

He was it.

She giggled as she ran down the halls of the palace. For the past hour she and the Prince had been playing avoid-the-lesson-master and winning. Of course they were going to get in trouble for this, but right now she didn't care.

"I'll get you Mana, just you wait!" the Prince called out to her, also laughing. They hadn't been able to do lessons for very long, only being just deemed old enough to participate. However they had quickly learned that lessons were boring, and left a lot to be desired.

Mana turned back to look at the Prince and stuck her tongue out at him before bursting into the courtyard, causing the guards to look at her with a roll of their eyes. The amount of times they had thwarted their plans was enough to make them slightly suspicious of what they were doing. Mahaado was just walking into the courtyard when the sound of their laughter reached his ears. He was suppose to be looking after the Prince, as the Pharaoh had commanded him too not so long ago, but decided that merely watching them for a few minutes wouldn't hurt; he needed to speak to one of the guards for a moment anyway.

**xxx**

Mana sat down under a plum tree, panting slightly.

"Barley," called as the Prince rushed up to her. He gave her a look that said you-can't-do-that-but-I'm-not-going-to-do-anything-about-it then sat down beside her. After a minute had passed she got bored of lying down and jumped up.

"I want a plum," she randomly announced. He looked at her lazily and said to go for it. She jumped up to reach the fruit in vain. For half a minute she tried to reach a plum, but missed each time. Eventually, the Prince decided that was enough.

"Here, I'll get it," he said as Mahaado walked over to the pair. On the third attempt he was successful in dislodging the fruit from the tree. Mana gleefully grabbed it from him with an over enthused thanks.

"So here you two are," Mahaado said with the faintest trace of rituality in his voice for possibly ever second person that greeted the two said that. More often then not one or both of the two were in one of the oversized pots.

"Did my Father ask you to watch us?" the Prince asked also with faint trace of rituality in his voice, every fourth person who asked was sent for that purpose. Mahaado nodded. Mana just stood back, trying to find another tree that was climbable.

"Prince look out!" Mahaado cried suddenly and by the time Mana was able to see the other two, Mahaado was on the ground and Atem was kneeling next to him. It didn't take her long to figure out what had happened for the hiss of a snake gave it away.

She mutely screamed. She was helpless, utterly powerless to do anything. She stood there frozen for a moment. It had happened so quickly. She hadn't even seen the snake, let alone see where it had come from, what type it was or where it went. All she knew was that Mahaado was on the ground, and Atem was sucking on his arm.

Obviously to get the poison out.

She had never been so scared before. This was serious, that was certain. She wasn't use to that. In under a minute their fun was disrupted and the balance of things shifted. The Prince looked up at her.

"I'll, I'll go get Isis," she stuttered, unsure of what to do. He nodded, and she turned back to run into the palace. The guards were already on their way, and for once she was thankful they were so alert. Looking back at the scene there was nothing normal about it, and she could defiantly see where the concern was and was thanking every God she could think of at that moment that they at least were there.

It didn't take her long to find her way to the healing rooms where Isis was stationed today. Being a Priestess, she had to have a range of skills. Healing was one of them.

"Please come quick, something terrible has happened," she cried as the woman turned to look at who had just entered the room. Isis thankfully remained calm and in that manner she asked Mana what had happened.

" A snake! A snake bit Mahaado! And the Prince is sucking the poison out. Oh please help them!" she cried. Isis began to gather up a rough first aid before turning to face the distraught girl.

"Go and find the Pharaoh and tell him what happened. It's alright, say you have my permission," she said as she moved out of the room. Mana tearfully nodded and ran off once more.

**xxx**

Mana sat on the balcony that night alone. Mahaado was in the healing rooms, a little feverish but clearly going to be fine. All thanks to the Prince she thought. She sighed. After she had gone to the Pharaoh and he had dismissed her in a hurry she had been left in a state of shock. To top of the list of weird things of the day Aknadin came over to comfort her. Being only a small girl she was a bit afraid of the stony Priest, but he had proved to be a great comfort. She was also glad for the company. He didn't really say anything, but she didn't really want him to. It had given her time to think.

So now she sat alone, the Prince was being looked over just in case.

'I never thought I would be thankful that all our lessons are so firmly planted in our heads. I should probably pay more attention!' She sighed once more and looked at the sky.

'He was really brave to face a snake like that. I just hope that one day I can be as brave as that.'

"Mana," Isis' voice broke her thoughts. "The Prince wants to see you."

"Ok," Mana jumped up and followed Isis into one of the healing rooms where an indignant Prince sat. There were many things she forgot, but what she felt that day she never could.

**xxx**

Things were never the same again between them. Not that he ever noticed, being as impressive as he was. Nor was the Prince any different; she had always known he was brave. Now whenever Mahaado entered the room he had her complete attention, and whenever he spoke she instantly obeyed.

At least that's what was like for the first few weeks, after that her affection became less obvious and he didn't appear to notice her change in attitude. Neither did the Prince for that matter, no one really did. But subtly a lot had changed.

If anyone, ever, later on in her life, asked who her first crush had been on, the answer, whether spoken or not, was never the Prince, but her Master. And then she would always think back to that day, when her hero was born.


End file.
